


Together

by WritingNeverending



Category: Psychonauts (Video Games)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, First Love, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:14:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,332
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24499267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WritingNeverending/pseuds/WritingNeverending
Summary: “Lili! A deranged madman is building an army of psychic death tanks to take over the world! And there’s no one who could stop it, except for you and me!”This time, circumstances ensured that Raz made good on his words.
Relationships: Razputin Aquato/Lili Zanotto
Comments: 2
Kudos: 21





	1. Together

“How many years have I been coming here and I have never even noticed a cool flower like _this_ before?”

Lili’s words went in Raz’s right ear and out his left. Only when he heard a loud, inhuman roar behind him that he realized Lili had been snatched up, and that the culprit was a giant, hulking, mutated lungfish. That was the moment Raz finally stopped thinking about kissing.

“ _Lili_!”

The lungfish swiped at Raz, but he easily jumped out of its reach. From the corner of his eyes, he spotted a jagged piece of driftwood that had washed ashore, and he knew what to do. One hand to his forehead and the other to the driftwood, the piece of debris lifted off the ground, and flew towards the lungfish.

Bullseye. The wood cut it just below its grotesque eyes. It shrieked in pain, Lili slipping out of its grasp, dropping to the sand. The lungfish shrieked again, the ground shaking as it waddled away on deformed legs towards the lake.

Raz was beside Lili’s prone form within seconds.

“Lili! Are you-?”

“ _I knew it_!” Lili shot to her feet like a bolt of lightning. She pointed a finger at the retreating lungfish, a fire burning in her eyes. “You’re not getting away from me!”

Lili took off sprinting. Nothing could stop her - not Raz, not the lungfish disappearing into the lake, not even the shoreline. She charged through the water, unfazed by her clothes getting soaked, took a deep breath, and dived beneath the surface. Raz blinked, then blinked again, then realized that _crap_ , he should be helping her.

Raz didn’t get far before skidding to a halt. Already, he’s seeing ethereal hands gathering at the water’s edge. The curse. The goddamn curse.

“Lili! _Lili_!”

Like a miracle, his call was answered. Bubbles rose not far from the shore, and Lili soon emerged, panting, her pigtails come undone. She swam back to shore, but you don’t have to be psychic to tell that she wasn’t happy about it.

“It was too fast,” she coughed, walking up the shore, shivering. “I couldn’t keep up. I let it slip away.”

“Lili…” Raz’s first instinct was to place a hand on her shoulder, but he stopped. He wasn’t sure if she’s comfortable with that yet. He settled for a look of concern. “You shouldn’t have dived after it in the first place. Who knows what could’ve happened to you? And when you’re having a cold, too. God, you’re shivering.”

Lili shook her head, refusing to meet his gaze. “This is… m-more important… th-than a dumb c-cold…”

Raz blew a breath. She’s a handful. Only one thing he could do now. He took off his jacket and draped it around Lili’s shivering form.

“There. You need that more than I do.”

For a moment, Lili froze, and Raz was worried he somehow made things worse. “This isn’t necessary,” she claimed, but he saw how she clutched the jacket tighter. “But… th-thanks…”

Raz stepped back. A natural calm fell around the two. A tranquil moment after the sudden burst of events, where the only thing to be heard were the rippling waters, the branches creaking in the wind, and Lili’s shaky breaths. Raz was by no means some kind of social expert, but this seemed like a good time as any to continue the conversation.

Raz cleared his throat. “So, uh, about what you said-”

“The bathysphere!”

“Huh?”

“We can use the bathysphere to follow that monster!” Lili took his hand in hers and didn’t give him a chance to resist. “Let’s go!”

The bathysphere. A giant-sized diving helmet situated at the end of the pier. Large enough to comfortably fit about four campers and a counselor. Usually used for exploration of the sunken town beneath the lake. And now, Raz was going to step into it, to chase down the terrible lake monster. Underwater.

Raz breathed deep. He’s fine. He’s _fine_. If this was what it took to save the world, he’ll gladly do it. He’ll do it ten times over if he had to. Plus, Lili’s standing right there. He couldn’t back down in front of her.

So, Raz stepped inside, and _definitely_ didn’t gulp when the hatch swung to a shut with a ringing _clang_.

The entire contraption lurched, lowered, then fell. With a muffled splash, they submerged, into the world beneath the waves. Raz, again, didn’t gulp.

“Keep your eyes peeled,” Lili warned, peering way, _way_ too close to the glass. “That thing can attack anytime, anywhere.”

“Mhm.”

“Try to look for psychic disturbances. A creature like that must have an easily recognizable signature.”

“Mhm.”

Lili paused, and looked over her shoulder. Why was she suddenly giving him a weird look? “Raz? Are you okay?”

“Mhm. Never better.” Raz nodded, in a smooth, non-stiff way. Lili continued to look at him weirdly, for some reason.

“Pro tip when dealing with psychics, Raz.” She placed a hand on her hip, cocked her head, and narrowed her eyes. “It’s best you don’t lie around them.”

Raz opened his mouth. Another excuse, another lie, made it to the back of his throat, and stopped there. His mouth closed as he sighed. He never was all that great at lying.

“My family’s cursed. There’s a… hand. That tries to drown us if we get near large bodies of water.” Raz gestured to everything around him. “And now, look where I am.”

“Raz, you… _ugh_.” Lili took a step closer and bopped him on the shoulder. Ow? “Dummy. You didn’t think to say that _earlier_?”

Raz rubbed the back of his neck. “Yeah, yeah, sorry. You were just- so _excited_ to go off and fight evil and stuff.” He shot her a sheepish look and shrugged. “And the world _is_ at stake here, so.”

Lili went silent. For way too long. “Wait,” she said. “You came along… because of me?”

“A-and the world! Don’t forget the world!” Raz quickly added, before devolving into a chuckling mess. Why did he do either of those things? “Also, you do still have my jacket.”

“And I still have your jacket. Good to know where your priorities are.” Lili crossed her arms, pouted, and threw her gaze away. Lucky for Raz, the pout didn’t last long.

Lili’s eyes went wide, as a gasp escaped her lips and she stepped closer to the hatch. Raz did the same, when he too saw the cause. The underwater sunken town of Shaky Claim, except it wasn’t quite underwater anymore. Giant bubbles of air had formed around large sections of it, granting the ruined buildings reprieve from the waters of the lake after god knows how long. Judging from Lili’s reaction, the sight was new, even for her.

“The lungfish!” Lili suddenly exclaimed. “It must have mutated to gain psychic powers, and now it’s using it to make those air bubbles!”

Before today, Raz would have said something about how ludicrous that sounds, but after a long afternoon of fighting off psychic bears and pyrokinetic pumas, that sounded more like a regular day in Whispering Rock.

Lili gasped, turning to face Raz, eyes wide in panic. “And if the air bubbles are up now, that means the lungfish has to be somewhere in-!”

A sudden _lurch_. Something big and powerful must have struck the bathysphere. It spun, out of control, towards the air bubble. The only reason both Raz and Lili weren’t reduced to a bloody pulp being thrown around inside the metal ball was Raz’s quick reflexes. He wrapped Lili in his arms, hooked an arm to the grates of the hatch, and held on with an iron grip.

When the bathysphere breached the bubble, Raz _felt_ it. The weightlessness of water gave way to merciless gravity. The bathysphere plummeted faster than it had ever been, and crashed _hard_ against the buildings. As it bounced and bounced and bounced like a giant metal pinball, the hatch broke off of its hinges, and with it, Raz and Lili came flying out.

Raz was completely unprepared. The ground came faster than he expected. He tried to land with a roll, but failed, and his back took the brunt of the impact. He laid there, in pain, eyes growing heavy, darkness creeping at the edges of his vision…

Until Lili entered his vision.

“Raz! God, _please_ be okay.”

Raz blinked. He could barely believe what he saw. There was real, genuine fear in Lili’s eyes.

“I’m-I’ll be fine,” he forced himself to say, between coughs. Somehow, her presence drove him to hold on. “Just gimme a minute.”

The ground shook. Lili looked ahead, her brows etched into a glare. Something told Raz he won’t have his minute.

“Raz, you gotta stand up.”

“Would love if I could, believe me.”

“Raz, that lungfish isn’t stopping.” Lili rose to her full height, two fingers on his forehead.

“Can’t imagine why it would.”

Lili shot him a glare from the corner of her eyes. “Less sass, more ass-off-the-ground.”

Raz coughed out a chuckle. He’d never imagine hearing a line like that from Lili. But he did his best. He tried to push off the ground, at least to a sitting position. He finally caught a glimpse of the threat, the hulking lungfish slowly lumbering towards them. But, try as he might, he just couldn’t get his feet under him.

“Dammit!” Raz fell down again. The pain was just too much. “I’m trying-! I swear, I’m trying…”

Lili bit her lip. Her eyes darted back and forth between Raz’s prone form and the advancing lungfish. One hell of a pickle she found herself in. Her first real mission, and it was already a trainwreck. But Lili shook her head and steeled her nerves. That was no way for a Psychonaut agent to be conducting herself.

Focus. Observe her surroundings. Find something she could use to her advantage.

The first thing that she noticed was the field of broken wood and steel from the bathysphere’s crash. Which could be useful. Which _is_ useful. Yes. She knew exactly what to do.

“Raz, cover your eyebrows.”

“Huh?”

Lili raised a closed fist to the air. Pyrokinetic power surged forth, charging, coalescing together at her point of focus. Finally, at this very second, a moment she’d always dreamed of came true.

Lili slammed her fist to the ground. And _released_.

The temperature soared. In a wave, the pieces of wood and steel were set alight in a brilliant blaze, one by one, like a fire flower in bloom. The lungfish shrieked, surprised. It raised its arms to shield itself, backing away in fear of the flames. Lili grinned. Now, for the coup de grâce. She placed a hand against her forehead, placed her focus on the flaming debris, and crumpled to her knees.

_Crap_. That move drained her more than she thought. The lungfish won’t be spooked by the fire forever. One strike. She just needed this one strike.

Raz saw, and _felt_ , the flames raging around him. He’d never been more in awe of anyone in his life. But when he saw Lili falling to her knees, he didn’t need to read her mind to know something was wrong.

“Lili…?”

“One hit…” she wheezed. “Just need one hit…”

Raz stared ahead at the lungfish. It was already recovering from the surprise. He realized what she intended to do. What he now must do.

His entire body _screamed_ as he forced it to move. He screamed too, to shut them up. He rose, first to a sitting position, then to his knees, and finally, barely, to his feet. His eyes clenched shut, focused on the flaming field of debris, and with everything he’s got, he willed them all to rise. And rise they did.

His eyes snapped open. He screamed. He swung his fist. The debris flew forth like a flock of phoenixes.

The lungfish didn’t stand a chance. Its slow, clumsy movements made it an easy target. Every strike, every blow, drew more and more shrieks of pain from the monster. It quickly proved too much. The lungfish moved to flee, retreating from the air bubble and into the water. Raz, despite himself, cracked a smile.

Lili was speechless. She intended to throw one. She had asked for just one strike. No regular psychic would be capable of a barrage like that. Just who the hell is this Razputin Aquato?

She was taken out of her stupor when a hand entered her vision. Raz’s hand. She gladly took it. Stick with him long enough, and her questions would be answered in time.

But the duo had little time to recover. The lungfish was down, not out. From the murky darkness, they could still hear it moving about, hear its rumbling moans and growls. Lili stood with her back to Raz, watching the abyss for signs of the beast. Raz, without saying a word, followed her lead.

“Looks like neither of us could do this on our own.”

“Looks like it.”

Over their shoulders, their eyes met.

“Together?”

“Together.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic was commissioned by my good friend cartoonfumes over on Tumblr, who wanted an AU where Lili doesn’t get kidnapped and proceeds to kick ass along with Raz. I probably (definitely) got some Psychonauts facts wrong. It’s been so long since I actually played the game. Feel free to yell at me if I did.
> 
> Anyway, that’s my very first batch of commissions done! Gonna switch focus to my own stuff now. If I open commissions again, it would probably be sometime in July. Thanks a ton again for everyone who commissioned me! Hope you all enjoyed it. And stay safe out there, folks. 
> 
> If y’all want to follow my writing and show your support, check out my tumblr right [here](https://chronicler-of-legends.tumblr.com/)!


	2. As One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A battle rages beneath the surface of Lake Oblongata.

The lungfish burst into the air pocket, shrieking. Raz and Lili saw it coming. A hail of psychic projectiles greeted the beast. It quickly proved too much for the lungfish, driving it back to the water, disappearing into the depths, biding its time for another chance to strike. And that was succinct summary of Raz and Lili’s life for the past ten minutes.

They were nearing their limit, and they both knew it. They had to lean on each other, literally, to stay on their feet. This couldn’t continue for much longer.

“This is a waste of time,” Lili coughed.

Raz wheezed a weak chuckle. “I wouldn’t call keeping ourselves alive a waste of time, but you do you.”

“I’m serious!” Lili took her eyes off of the barrier for a split second. “What’s a lake monster even doing stealing psychic brains? What’s it using it for?”

“Food?”

“Serious!”

“Hey, I don’t know what lake monsters eat!”

A rumbling shriek sent them both into silence. The edges of the air pocket shuddered. And moved, inwards. The dome was shrinking.

Lili gasped. Raz thinned his lips into a line.

“Hmm. Don’t like that.”

Another shriek, another shudder. A looming shadow passed by the dome as it began to shrink faster.

“Say you’re right, and this thing hasn’t been spending all of its time down here slurping on prepubescent brain juice.” Raz suppressed a gulp. The Hand crept ever closer. “What does _that_ mean?”

“It means… someone else has the brains, and they’re using this monster to attack people.” Lili’s eyes followed the shadow, now not with anger or disgust. “This lungfish could be just as much a victim as the campers are.”

Raz caught the shadow from the edges of his vision. He remembered the wild animals he had to contend with throughout the day. They were aggressive, but only when provoked. He never saw them go out of their way to attack the campers. This lake monster was the sole exception. Lili’s reasoning made a lot of sense.

He cringed as he remembered the sheer amount of psi-blasts he’d unloaded onto the poor thing. “I don’t feel good now, morally speaking.”

“It’s… unfortunate.” Her tone carried the tinge of regret, but was quickly shrugged off. “But we can’t beat ourselves up over it. If we didn’t defend ourselves, we would’ve ended up brainless like the other campers.”

Raz’s gaze hardened, and so did his determination. “If it needs saving, then we will help him,” he declared. “We will break it free from whatever is controlling it.”

“How is it even being controlled?” Lili wracked her brain, through the history of mind control that she must have learned at some point in camp. “I don’t remember seeing any external devices on it. The control device must be embedded deep within.”

The words echoed within Raz’s mind. “Deep within…”

The shadow perched itself upon a ruined steel mill. Raz could feel it eyeing them close, waiting for them to make their next move first, while exerting most of its effort to shrinking the dome. Its engorged head almost seemed to hinder its movement as it found purchase atop the mill. As if the head wasn’t meant to be that way.

Light shone in Raz’s eyes.

“We knock it out.” Raz reached inside his pack, and brought the Psycho-Portal to light. “And we use this.”

Lili saw the Psycho-Portal, and nearly choked on air. “Where did you get that?!”

“From Sasha?”

“ _Sasha_ gave you a _Psycho-Portal_?” 

“N-not exactly.” Raz scratched the back of his neck. Boy, how to make this brief. “I sorta… took it?”

The glare carved upon Lili’s brow could kill even the strong-hearted.

“It was just lying there in Sasha’s lab! He left in a hurry, so I thought I’d hold on to it so no one would steal it!”

“It _did_ get stolen! By _you_!”

“Can we not do this right now?” Raz glanced at the watching lungfish, then at the shrinking edges.

“Fine,” Lili relented, for now. This won’t be the last he’ll hear about it. “How are we supposed to knock it out in the first place?”

“Well, I saw this move once in True Psychic Tales-”

“No.”

“Just! Listen!” The grin on his lips exuded such raw confidence that Lili was inclined let him continue. “A supercharged psi-blast made with a combination of both of our psychic energies, mixed with elements of a confusion grenade. If we land a bullseye on the monster’s giant forehead, that should be more than enough to knock it out cold. You following?”

Lili couldn’t hold back a sigh. She followed that just fine. “Yeah,” she said. She’s read that issue. “I know that move.”

A new glint made itself known in Raz’s eyes. He would have never pegged Lili to be a fellow fan. If only he could have found out in literally any other situation. Oh, well. This won’t be the last time she’ll hear about this.

Raz dug into his pockets and pulled out a handful of arrowheads that he hadn’t handed over to Cruller yet. He offered his hand out to Lili, his lips curled into a daring smile.

“You with me?”

“Like I’m going to say no.”

Lili clasped her hand around his tight. Psychic energy surged forth, from the arrowheads to their tired minds - a much-needed boost for one last round of combat.

Powerless arrowheads clattered to the dirt. The duo stood tall by themselves. Lili stared down the lake monster. Raz eyed a wooden bell tower on the verge of collapsing.

“You set the trap.”

“You bait the monster.”

Lili took off in a sprint. The monster perked upon its perch. Pieces of debris outside the dome were lifted from the sea floor, and launched towards the monster. All missed, or stopped entirely due to the water’s resistance, but Lili has made her intent clear. The monster rose, visibly aggravated, and propelled itself from atop the mill, fangs bared, aiming for Lili.

Raz fired a psi-blast at a rotting strut, the wood crumbling instantly, the tower growing more and more unstable. Another blast, another chunk of the tower destroyed. The structured creaked and moaned, leaning even more precariously to one side. He stole a glance to the other side of the dome; Lili was running towards him, and the monster was about to breach. He cursed under his breath. Thought he’d have more time.

Lili heard the monster break the surface, felt its pounding footsteps behind her. She tossed any debris within her telekinetic reach behind her, not looking, not stopping. Her legs burned. Her chest heaved. She silently resolved to start working out, if she survived.

Raz fired three rapid shots. The tower _buckled_. Lili closed the distance. The monster was hot on her heels. Raz reared back, and summoned a giant psychic fist. This was going to be close.

“Sorry about this, buddy. This is gonna sting a little!”

He _swung_.

The tower tumbled and crashed. Lili dived through the shower of debris. The monster lunged with an open maw. Raz sent a second fist into the chaos.

Raz caught Lili and pulled her out. The monster was too slow. It barely had time to screech before the collapsing tower buried it under a mess of rotting wood and rusted steel. When the dust settled, the monster has been well and truly trapped.

Raz placed Lili down on her feet. He rushed to her side within moments. The monster was already thrashing about in its makeshift cage. They don’t have much time.

Raz placed his right hand between them. Lili followed his lead with her left.

“I’ll add the confusion. You focus on the power!”

“Got it!”

Psychic energy surged forth, power made material. A swirling orb, a kaleidoscope of Raz’s orange and Lili’s magenta coalescing between them. It grew, and grew, and grew, dwarfing either of its creators. The force of the energy was palpable, their clothes and hair flapping in the wind, sending the sand on the lakebed scattering to the air. The entire dome was illuminated by its brilliant light, by the manifestation of their trust, their bond, their will.

Raz and Lili took aim. The monster stilled.

“ _Two minds become one_!”

Lili shot Raz an incredulous stare.

“No.”

“You know the line.”

Raz had the audacity to wear a stupid grin. Lili sighed, but glared ahead.

“ _Trust in Psychonauts_!”

Roar, and _release_.

The blast split the air. The knockback took their feet from under them. The impact was thunderous, deafening, earthshaking. The world was consumed by a blinding mix of orange and magenta. The fishes around the dome scattered for safety. Even the creeping Hand, for a moment, fled in fear.

When the chaos ceased, and color returned to the world, Raz and Lili slowly opened their eyes. Lying unconscious before them, caged by a tower’s carcass, its head half-buried in the sand, was the once-fearsome monster of Lake Oblongata.

Lili coughed a laugh of disbelief. Raz grinned from ear to ear.

“It worked!”

“Hell yeah! Up top!”

The two locked eyes, and did just that, and instantly regretted it. Handling such a massive concentration of raw psychic energy has left their palms sore and in pain - something that they realized far too late.

But their night was from over. They helped each other to their feet, taking cautious, measured steps as they approached the monster, just in case. But it seemed their worry was unfounded. The monster was indeed out like a light. A second passed, a moment of calm in the submerged settlement, as Raz and Lili processed what they have just accomplished, that _they_ did this. They _won_.

“Sorry, buddy. You’re probably innocent, but that felt _good_ ,” Raz said, patting the monster just above its swollen eye.

Lili let herself smile in satisfaction. She had to agree with that. “Not every day you get to bring a comic book to life.”

“Alright,” Raz pulled out the Psycho-Portal from his pack and held it to the monster’s forehead, “let’s dive in.”

The device latched on firmly onto the monster’s grotesque head. Raz was ready to dive in the second that small door opened, until he realized Lili was no longer standing next to him.

Raz looked over his shoulder and saw her standing a few paces back. “Lili?”

“You go in. I’ll stand guard, make sure no one attacks us while you’re vulnerable,” she said, crossing her arms. Closing herself off from the world.

“What’re you talking about? What’s gonna get us down here, telekinetic guppies?” The joking smile on his lips broke as quickly as it appeared. “Wait, _are_ there telekinetic guppies?”

“No, no, I’m-” Lili shook her head. She suddenly couldn’t bring herself to look Raz in the eye. “I don’t have a lot of experience with mental world traversal, okay? The only times I’ve done it is for Basic Braining in Coach’s head, and that’s it.”

Raz blinked. Lili doubted herself? That simply won’t do. “And I have never entered someone’s psyche until this morning, so I’d say we’re about on the same level.”

“But _you_ are a natural at this. I saw how you handled yourself in Basic Braining. Your first time, and you showed no disorientation, your movements are completely in-sync.” Her crossed arms had become more of a self-hug. Her eyes were pointed stubbornly at the sand around her feet. “If I go in with you, I’ll just slow you down.”

“But _you_ know more about how the mind works,” Raz countered, stepping closer to her, closing the distance. “If I go in by myself, and it’s _completely_ different than Basic Braining, I’m toast.”

Behind closed lips, Lili gritted her teeth. Why was he being so pushy about this? He was doing fine traipsing all over camp all day all by himself. She breathed in, and finally looked up, ready to give him a piece of her mind. And stopped dead in her tracks. Raz had suddenly gotten very close to her. _Inches_ close. 

“Lili,” he began. “We got this far only by doing it together. That’s the only way we’ll see this through to the end. If you stop, I stop. If you go, I go.”

Lili opened her mouth, but words continued to fail her. Why couldn’t she speak? Why did he think it was okay to get this closer to her? Has he always been this hot?

It. Has _it_ always been this hot.

“So?”

Lili shook her head. And stepped back, so she could speak again.

“If you need me to babysit you so bad, fine.”

Her words plastered a huge, dumb grin on Raz’s face. He offered his hand, and Lili took it. The Psycho-Portal opened. The emerging light slowly overwhelmed their vision, welcoming them both inside the mind of a monster. Their grip on the other’s hand never faltered.

They will see this mission through to the end, as one.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, this is a little unusual. This fic was commissioned by nsart over on Tumblr, who wanted a continuation of my fic Together. They didn’t really give me any further guidelines besides that, so here’s hoping I delivered with something you liked. 
> 
> Also, yes, I know how the powers in the game actually work. Let’s just call this what the anime adaptation would do. Starting to feel bad though, doing all these things to Linda. Hey, at least, if anyone wants to continue this again, the next part is going to be all about helping Linda.


End file.
